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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎204r] (405/501)
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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎204r] (405/501)

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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil'
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Ref: Mss Eur F112/294

The record is made up of 251 folios (1 file). It was created in 15 Nov 1922-3 Nov 1923. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty s Government.]
TURKEY. [January 20.]
CONFIDENTIAL. Section 3.
[E 1001/1/44] No. 1.
Lord Curzoris Bepiy to Ismel Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. respecting Mosul, January 23, 1923 .—(Beceived in
Foreign Office January 20.)
LORD CURZON spoke as follows :—
“ I will reply at once to the speech which we have just heard.
“ His Excellency ismet Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. began by expressii g regret that this matter could
not be solved by direct agreement between him and myself. I share that regret. It is
because we could not convince each other that the question has been brought before the
commission to-day.
“ The first part ot Ismet Pasha’s speech was devoted to contesting certain points in
my speech of this morning. I do not want to reopen that discussion, but there
are three or four points on which I will ask the leave of the commission to say a
few words.
“ In the first place, Ismet Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. repeated what he had already said this morning,
namely, that the Turkish Government cannot take any account of a mandate given for
any territory and have never accepted the principle or recognised the fact of any
mandate. But that is not the case. I can give an illustration showing that the
Turkish Government have definitely accepted both the principle and the fact. As
M. Bompard said this morning, the frontier between Syria and Turkey in Asia was
agreed at a certain stage by a special arrangement concluded between a representative
of the French Government and the Government of Angora. What is that but a
definite recognition of a mandated territory ? How is France in Syria at this moment ?
M. Bompard will readily admit that she is there in execution of a mandate conferred
upon her at San Remo bv the same Powers who conferred the mandates for Irak and
Palestine on Great Britain. Her mandate was subsequently laid down and defined by
the League of Nations. Turkey has therefore recognised the mandate given to France,
and in the text of the agreement which exists between France and Turkey lies the
recognition of the French mandate for Syria.
“ Secondly. Ismet Pasl ia said that the Arabs were only one-quarter of the total
population of the Vilayet of Mosul, and enquired how it could be argued that one-
quarter of the population should decide the fate ot the whole. But what is Ismet
Pasha’s own contention ? That the vilayet should be given back to the Turks who
constitute only one-twelfth ot the whole. Ismet Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. is quite prepared to accept a
smaller fraction if it relates to lurks, hut he will not look at a much larger.fraction if
it applies to Arabs.
“Ismet Pasha’s next point concerned the Kurdish delegates in the Parliament at
Angora, but he has not replied to the questions which I put to him this morning on the
subject. I asked him how they were elected; how many voters voted for them ; and
from whence the delegates came. He has not told me any of these things, hut he has
admitted that there are no Kurdish delegates from the Mosul Vilayet and, therefore,
none from that part of Kurdistan with which we are now concerned. And yet his
argument this morning was that he knew all about the opinions of the people in the
Mosul Vilayet through the Kurdish delegates at Angora. Therefore, that particular
contention of his can be dismissed.
“ I will now deal with the final position adopted by Ismet Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. . His Excellency
strongly argued that the question raised in regard to Mosul should be settled by a
plebiscite ; that if you can elect a ruler or a king by a plebiscite, you can also determine
the fate of a country by the same means. Will his Excellency allow me to remind him
that this is not the question now before us. The question is not what is to^ be the
ultimate destiny of Mosul, but where the line is to be drawn between the Turkish
possessions and the mandated Arab State of Irak—an entirely different question, and of
all questions the least suitable for decision by a plebiscite. I venture to think that I
have had far more experience of plebiscites than Ismet Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. . Smce the war I ha\e
had a great deal to do with plebiscites concerning frontiers, and am determined never
to deal with another. The plebiscite is a fatal and pernicious system of endeavouring
[2-0 cc—3]

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Content

Letters and papers on the frontier between Iraq (also written as Irak in the file) and Turkey, with particular reference to Mosul and questions concerning oil. The file consists mainly of correspondence between Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs George Curzon, and officials in the Foreign Office, Air Ministry, Colonial Office and Ismet Pasha An Ottoman title used after the names of certain provincial governors, high-ranking officials and military commanders. [Mustafa İsmet İnönü]. The contents of the file are as follows:

Following documents are undated:

  • Lord Balfour to League of Nations. Speech: The frontier between Turkish territory and the territory of Iraq
  • The President of the League of Nations. Reply: after Speech by Balfour
  • Typewritten report: The question of Mosul
  • Typewritten report: The Question of Mosul

The file also includes handwritten notes by Curzon on the Mosul vilayet and groups residing there.

Extent and format
251 folios (1 file)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 251; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Written in
English in Latin script
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'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil' [‎204r] (405/501), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F112/294, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100130546289.0x000006> [accessed 15 June 2026]

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Reference
Mss Eur F112/294
Title
'Mosul Question, Lausanne 1922-1923 and after - Papers, despatches, speeches - Hotel de la Mer at Lausanne - Correspondence about oil'
Pages
1r:28v, 28ar:28av, 29r:72v, 91r:167v, 170r:218r, 218r:251v
Author
East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
Usage terms
Open Government Licence